


Longing

by junakabisque



Category: Alice Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2018-01-03 02:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1064400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junakabisque/pseuds/junakabisque
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New York, Tokyo. Distance won't be an obstacle for Tora and Saga.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Longing

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to charlotte8888uk@LJ for beta-reading and alice9freka@LJ for the banner.

“Happy birthday, Tora!”  
“Thanks, pal.”  
“Oh hey, Tora! Happy birthday!”

Tora couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as one of his American friends punched him playfully on the arm. Soon, they surrounded him. Most of them were merely wishing him a happy birthday; but the girls were practically shoving their birthday gifts into Tora’s arms forcefully.

“H-hey, girls! You really shouldn’t have—”  
“Oh c’mon, Tora! It’s your first birthday in New York. It should be very special,” said one of the girls.

Tora decided to give up. He gathered the gifts in his arms and soon retreated from the crowds. He was almost pulled by force by his three boy friends to their car (one of them exclaimed that they would throw a birthday party for him), but luckily he managed to free himself from their strong grips. Muttering that he had someone waiting for him in his flat, Tora finally left with his friends whistling playfully behind him.

Tora rolled his eyes, turned around and said, “Guys, cut it out!”

They guffawed, making Tora feel more annoyed. He ignored them nonetheless, and continued leaving the campus. He headed to the bus stop, waiting for his bus to arrive. It didn’t take long, though. As soon as the bus stopped in front of him, Tora got in and searched for an empty seat. He found one at the back and strolled towards the empty seat. Making a soft thud as he sat down, Tora leant back and heaved a sigh.

 

_It’s been five months,_ Tora told himself. _Five months and I’m already missing him so much…_

 

Yes, it was Tora’s fifth month of schooling in one of so many very well-known universities in New York. Five months ago when he received the letter from his current university informing him that he got the scholarship there, Tora was very happy he almost cried. He did cry, to tell the truth. The lucky person he had shared his happiness with was none other than his beautiful male lover, Saga. That time, Tora practically crushed Saga’s bones when he hugged the younger boy.

 

~*~  
 _“I got accepted, Saga! I got accepted!!”  
“Cool! I’m happy for you!” Saga answered as best as he could whilst being hugged tightly by Tora._

_Tora released the shorter boy and smiled widely at him. He seemed not to notice the tears of joy that had been pooling in his eyes._

_“I love you,” confessed Tora._

_Saga was at a loss for words as he brought his hands up to cover his mouth. A small gasp escaped his full peach-flavoured lips. Tora gathered him into his embrace again and patted Saga’s head whilst the said boy was soaking his T-shirt with warm tears._

_“I love you too,” said Saga between his sobs._

_It was not the first time Tora confessed his feelings to Saga. In fact, they had been lovers since a month ago. But they knew that the reason behind Saga’s crying was because Tora was going to school abroad and that meant that they had to part for quite a long time._

_“Only four years, Saga…” whispered Tora into Saga’s ear._  
“Still…You’ll be far away from me,” replied Saga with a tiny voice.  
“Then come with me.” 

_Unexpectedly, Saga broke the hug and hit Tora’s chest playfully._

_“Baka!” He continued, “You know I can’t. I still have to finish my last year in high school.”_

_Tora sighed in relief when he saw a small smile appear on Saga’s lips._  
~*~

 

Tora could still remember Saga’s smile very clearly. Without him realising it, Tora’s face turned gloomy. This year, unlike before, he had to spend his birthday alone; without his lover (Yes, Tora had lied when he said there was someone waiting for him in his flat right now), in a city that seemed alien to him. He was lucky, though, that he had gotten so many friends. Still, there was something missing. He felt unfamiliar and utterly lonely. He knew who could make him forget his loneliness, but that certain person was far away in Japan, in his hometown. Tora thought that he was childish for he wanted to be home so badly right here right now. Of course, he was not referring to his small flat in New York City. It needed all his willpower to distract himself from Saga and Japan. The fact was that he was now in America and he could only visit his family (and Saga too, of course) at Christmas, which meant he still had to wait a few months longer.

Tora stood up when the bus almost arrived at his destination. Once it stopped, Tora got down from the bus and strolled towards his flat. It was almost twilight. The sky above was marvellously orange under the setting sun. Tora soon reached his flat. He was eager to check if there was an e-mail from Saga. All this time, the two of them kept in touch via the internet. Saga would usually mail him three times a week, much to Tora’s happiness. If they were lucky (more likely because of the time difference and of course their busy schedules), though, they would spend their free times chatting via Instant Messenger. Tora couldn’t help but hope that tonight would be one of those rare lucky times.

Tora was passing his neighbour’s door when he caught sight of something slipped under his door. He walked faster and once he reached his door, Tora squatted down to see what the thing was. It was a letter. Tora checked the sender and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Saga’s real name written on the envelope. A letter from Saga! He had only received a letter from Saga once; it was on Tora’s third month in New York. Because they knew that the internet made everything easier and they thought who would bother themselves to write a hand-written letter, anyway.

Tora impatiently unlocked his door, locked it again without turning back and toed off his shoes; his eyes were fixed at the letter in his hand. He proceeded to his small bedroom, seated himself on his bed as he threw his bag carelessly and eagerly tore the envelope. He pulled out Saga’s letter from inside it, unfolded it carefully and started reading.

> _Dear Tora,_
> 
> _Happy birthday!! I don’t know if you’ll read this letter or my e-mail first._

“Your letter first, baby,” said Tora to himself, amused. He continued reading.

> _But that’s not the case, ne~? The contents are pretty much the same. I just thought it would be special if I wrote a letter to you. Ooh, Tora. I miss you so much!!!!!!!!!_

“I miss you too,” said Tora to himself again.

> _My days were great, Tora. But not as great as when you were here with me. Hey, guess what! I’ve got the highest score in Math exam! Thanks to you, Tora. Because you taught me very useful methods in doing some Mathematic equations a long time ago. Hahaha…_
> 
> _Anyway, I’m sorry I can’t give you anything this year T________T_
> 
> _Maybe if you were here, though, I could buy you Korn’s new album from the music store we often visited together back then. I really miss those times of being together with you~ Do you know? Nights ago, I dreamt about you coming home. I was really happy, Tora. But once I realised that it was just a dream, I cried…_

“Awww…”

> _You will be coming home at Christmas this year, won’t you? I can’t wait to see you again, Tora. It is annoying that you can only return to Japan once a year. Tora, if only I could, I would fly to America to see you!!_

“No, you can’t! I won’t allow you to come to America alone, Saga!”

Realising that Saga couldn’t hear him; Tora continued reading the letter again.

> _Oh yes, Tora. I re-dyed my hair and cut it. Not too short though. I hope I can show you my photo soon. I want to see your current photo too~_

“Gosh, I want to see it!!” exclaimed Tora shamelessly.

> _Unh, Tora...I don’t know what else I should write. Just…just…come back soon!!_
> 
> _From Japan with love,  
>  Sagacchi ♥♥♥_

Tora spent the next ten minutes re-reading Saga’s letter. He just couldn’t get enough of it. But after that, he glanced at his watch and decided to take a shower. He reminded himself to get online as soon as he finished showering. Just in case Saga would be online, Tora must be looking his best for this special occasion. He chuckled at the thought and then disappeared into the small bathroom.

***

As soon as his laptop connected to the internet, Tora clicked open one of Instant Messenger applications that had been installed onto his laptop, the one he often used. Then he signed in, waited only for a few seconds until it finished loading. A notification popped up, reminding him of how many new unread e-mails he had in his inbox, but Tora ignored it. He checked his contact list, hoping that a certain someone was online too. A few friends were online, but not Saga. Tora looked a bit disappointed. He set a new status for himself, it read: _DO NOT come near me, unless you’re my Sagacchi!_ , not forgetting to include the busy icon.

Pouting, Tora opened his browser to check Saga’s new e-mail. There were about twenty or so new unread e-mails but Tora ignored them and went straight to Saga’s e-mail. He found it; it was sent on the 17th of September, Japan time. Tora read the subject: _Happy birthday, my Tiger-sama!!_ , and laughed. Then, he read the e-mail’s content. Saga was right. It was pretty much the same as what he had written on the letter. But Tora personally thought that the hand-written letter had much more meaning since Saga had written it himself with his own hand. Tora sighed, helplessly hoping that Saga would get online very soon.

As if on cue, a second later Tora saw the pop-up notification at the bottom right corner of his laptop screen. The notification said: _Chou no Saga is online_. Tora almost cheered loudly when he saw the notification, but he managed to behave himself. Although, he didn’t wait for Saga to greet him first. Instead, he quickly double-clicked Saga’s contact name and typed his message.

> Tiger Sama: Sagacchi!! :*

This time, he waited until Saga replied to his message. Soon, he saw the small notification at the bottom of the chat window, informing him that Saga was typing a message. Tora leant closer to his laptop screen, looking very excited. A second later, Saga’s message appeared.

> Chou no Saga: Torashii!! :*

Next, they were typing their messages to each other very quickly.

> Chou no Saga: Torashii, I missed you! I’ve been waiting for this time to come!  
> Tiger Sama: I missed you too, silly :P  
> Tiger Sama: How are you??  
> Chou no Saga: LOL, I’m doing great :D  
> Chou no Saga: You?  
> Tiger Sama: Hey, aren’t you supposed to be in school now? It’s morning there, right?  
> Chou no Saga: I’m ditching school XD  
> Tiger Sama: Sagacchi!!  
> Chou no Saga: Gomen!!! I just wanted to talk to you. I had the feeling that you’d be online.  
> Tiger Sama: Well…  
> Chou no Saga: You haven’t answered my question! :O  
> Tiger Sama: I’m perfectly fine ^-^

Suddenly Tora was notified that Saga had invited him to view his webcam. He accepted the invitation and quickly put on his headphone. Soon, Saga’s face appeared on his laptop screen. Tora’s eyes widened when he saw Saga’s new haircut and hair colour.

“You’re absolutely gorgeous!” screamed Tora to the tiny microphone.

Tora’s heart melted when he saw Saga laugh sheepishly. It’s been a while since the last time he saw him like that. Then, Saga spoke.

 

“ _My Tiger-sama looks so handsome too~!_ ”  
“You look even prettier, Sagacchi.”  
“ _Ah, chotto matte, ne. I’ve prepared something for you,_ ” said Saga suddenly, winking at Tora.

 

Tora waited. He watched Saga bend down, probably to open his drawer and a second later, the younger boy took out something like cat-ears and put them on. Tora laughed.

 

“What’s that for, Saga??” asked Tora, still laughing.  
“ _I was inspired by Chicken, you know. Oh, Chicken is all right, by the way._ ”  
“You took care of my cat?”  
“ _Sometimes. If I have time. Last night I was free. So I visited your house, I brought Chiko with me. Your family was happy to see me,_ ” answered Saga, grinning.  
“They knew.”  
“ _About?_ ”  
“Us.”

 

Saga gasped and his eyes widened.

 

“ _Tora, you didn’t—_ ”  
“Yes, I did. The night before I left Japan. I told them about us,” replied Tora calmly even before Saga could finish his sentence.  
“ _And what was their reaction?_ ” asked Saga again, sounding a bit worried.  
“Well…My father didn’t say anything. I took that as an approval, though. My mother and the others could take the news better. The point is, they didn’t disapprove us,” explained Tora.

 

Tora saw Saga sigh in relief. Then the younger boy spoke again.

 

“ _Maybe I should tell my family about us too. They like you so much, you know. I doubt they will disapprove._ ”  
“That’s very good to hear.”

 

They both smiled. Then, Tora reminded Saga about what he was going to show him a moment ago.

 

“ _Oh, yes. I was gonna sing you a birthday song, actually._ ”  
“Cool. Let me hear it, then.”

 

Tora rubbed his palms together in excitement. On his laptop screen, he saw Saga fidget nervously but then he looked calmer and began singing. Saga clapped his hands while singing the very famous yet common birthday song and Tora was beyond happy to see him smiling so widely. Once Saga finished the song, Tora applaud.

 

“That was really touching. It brought tears to my eyes,” commented Tora.  
“ _Hahaha!! You lied! I don’t see any tears here,_ ” replied Saga, laughing.  
“Still, that was very good. I loved it. Thanks.”  
“ _Awww….You’re making me feel embarrassed!_ ”

 

Saga covered half of his face with his hands. Tora chuckled. Saga stopped laughing and spoke to Tora again.

 

“ _Gomen, I can’t give you anything._ ”  
“Never mind, babe. I’m just happy to see you.”  
“ _Only through your laptop, though._ ”  
“Yeah…” Tora’s voice sounded weak when he said this.

 

Tora saw Saga raise his knees up to his chair and put his hands above them. There was something on Saga’s face right after Tora said ‘yeah’ with a weak voice; something that was saddening. Tora’s heart sank when he saw Saga’s face on his laptop screen turn gloomy and then heard him say, “ _Kimi ni aitai._ ”

 

Tora couldn’t say anything when Saga lowered his head and started crying. The younger boy hid his face between his raised up knees. His shoulders moved up and down as he sobbed softly. Tora bit his lower lip and lowered his head too, seeming unable to watch his lover cry. Saga’s sobs echoed in his ears. Tora touched his headphone and spoke to the tiny microphone, “I want to see you too.”

 

They were just like that for a while. But after a few minutes, Saga gave a hint that he’d stop crying. That was when Tora looked up again. Tora saw Saga wipe his tears away from his beautiful face. Deep in his heart, Tora hoped that he was the one who did that to him. He wanted to be by Saga’s side so badly just to catch Saga’s tears and comfort him, telling him that everything was going to be all right and that he would always be by his side. However, what Tora could only do was speak to Saga through the tiny microphone, saying, “Don’t cry anymore, Saga.”

Saga chuckled between his sobs.

 

“ _I’m sorry about that,_ ” he said.  
“It’s okay.”  
“ _So…_ ” Saga exhaled loudly and forced himself to smile, “ _happy birthday, Tora._ ”  
“ _Arigatou_ ,” replied Tora whole-heartedly.

 

Silence. Then, Saga bursted out laughing.

 

“ _I can’t believe I cried in front of you on your birthday!_ ”  
“That’s understandable. You missed me so much, didn’t you?”  
“ _Hahaha! How confident of you!_ ”  
“At least I can make you laugh again,” replied Tora, grinning.

 

Saga grinned back. They fell into silence again after that. Until Tora put a serious expression on his face and spoke to Saga again.

 

“I’ll be back at Christmas. Please take a good care of yourself until I come back for you, Saga.”  
“ _Sure, I promise._ ”  
“I love you.”  
“ _I love you even moooooree!!_ ”

 

Saga blew a kiss to Tora and winked at him. But sadly, their conversation had to be stopped because Saga’s mother came into Saga’s room and told him to walk Chiko out since he ditched school today. Saga pouted and whined that he could do that later. However, Tora told him to listen to his mother and that they could talk again next time. Saga’s mother left Saga’s room and that was when Saga scowled at Tora.

 

“ _You were not on my side! Huh!_ ”  
“Hey, hey, hey. I was just trying to look good in my future mother in law’s eyes,” defended Tora.  
“ _Your future mother in law??_ ” repeated Saga, guffawing.  
“Don’t you want to be my future husband?” asked Tora, winking meaningfully.  
“ _Was that a proposal??_ ” Saga asked back, amused.  
“Well…we should probably discuss it again in the future.”

 

Tora saw Saga’s mother face appear at Saga’s door again. Saga turned his head to see her. Tora heard Saga say to his mother, “ _Okay, okay. I’ll do it now._ ”

 

“Tell her, I miss her so much,” said Tora.  
“ _Ryoukai!_ ” replied Saga.

 

After that, Saga really had to go. Tora waved at him and muttered a ‘see you later’ to him before he turned his webcam off. For a moment, he just sat there, leaning back on his chair and doing nothing. He had signed out from his Instant Messenger and closed the application. He felt really content after talking to Saga and seeing his face. Even though only through his laptop screen, like Saga had said to him before. It made him vow to himself that once he flew back to Japan at Christmas and met Saga, he would do anything he and Saga wanted and treasure their sweet moments together. Tora smiled at the thought. He then decided to retire as he turned his laptop off and walked to his bed. Tonight, he could fall asleep with a smile on his lips. What a lovely birthday, he told himself before he turned the lamp off, closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

****

-END OF STORY-

**Author's Note:**

> Find this story also [on LiveJournal](http://junakabisque.livejournal.com/10999.html).


End file.
